Natalie Macellaio grew up in the Chicago area and moved to Texas to receive her Masters of Fine Arts from the University of North Texas in Jewelry and Metalsmithing. She is the Professor of Sculpture at Brookhaven Community College in Dallas, TX. Her work has been featured at 500x in Dallas, TX, HUB by Artisan in Barcelona, Spain and Accident Gallery in Euerka, CA. Co-creator of “The Mother Load,” with Lesli Roberston, this collaboration is an on-going, international project that was exhibited at the Dallas Museum of Art in fall 2014 and will be showing in Dundee, Scotland in February 2016. Natalie currently resides in Plano, TX with her husband and twin 4 year olds.

Juror for Top 25 Artworks: Julie Petro

Julie is a painter living in Corpus Christi, Texas. She paints figures from the realist tradition, though her brushwork is infused with an impressionist affection that invites the viewer to knit together the forms she has painted to create their own experience of the work. She is represented by RS Hanna Gallery in Fredericksburg, TX, Mary Williams Fine Arts in Boulder, CO, and Deselms Fine Art in Cheyenne, WY. Julie’s work is in institutional and private collections all over the United States and Europe.

Rural Texas Photography 2015

Congratulations to Grand Prize Winner Stephen Fisher, First Place Winner Beckey Zajicek, and Second Place Winner Ricky Niell. The top three photographs are on exhibit at the Uptown Downtown Art Gallery, 301 N. San Jacinto Street in Rockwall TX until December 20. Click here to view the Top 3 winning photographs.

Juror’s Statement

“I was impressed with the quality of the work submitted for this competition, and the various ways that people interpret rural life, particularly as it relates to Texas. The difference between the images that were selected and those that were not was mainly how closely the honorees aligned their images with the prospectus requirement regarding the attributes of Texas’ rural nature in its past, present and future. Kudos to all who created images to submit to this competition. Well done. Never stop creating! ~Dion McInnis”

The Top 25 photos are shown first in the right hand column, alphabetical by surname. The next 75 images complete the Top 100 photographs selected for the Rural Texas Photography show.

TOP 100 RURAL TEXAS images

Adamo, Nick - "Shelby" - Top 25

Adamo, Nick - "Chicken"

Adamo, Nick - "Truck"

Armer, Larry - "Magnolia Bee"

Armer, Larry - "Southern Girls Conference"

Baxter, Al - "Country House" - Top 25

Baxter, Al - "Dimebox"

Baxter, Al - "Still Rockin'"

Bazin, Kate - "Texas Dreams" - Top 25

Bazin, Kate - "Equestrian Salute"

Bazin, Kate - "West Texas Road"

Blow, David - "The Gathering"

Bossarte, Denise - "Country Church"

Brown, Jerry - "Front Porch, Uncertain, TX" - Top 25

Brown, Jerry - "Mt. Pilgrim Baptist, Fayetteville, TX" - Top 25

Brown, Jerry - "Barber Shop"

Carter, Robin - "Country Comfort" - Top 25

Carter, Robin - "Rural Heaven" - Top 25

Carter, Robin - "Lonely Tree"

Chandler, Andrea - "Longhorn" - Top 25

Chandler, Andrea - "Mr. Cowhill Farm"

Chandler, Andrea - "Time Machine Mustang"

Cook, Pierre - "Toyah School Bus"

Cook, Pierre - "Van Horn"

Cook, Pierre - "Big Bend Panorama"

Crowe, Willetta - "Ella's Farmhouse" - Top 25

Crowe, Willetta - "Untitled #1"

Crowe, Willetta - "Untitled #2"

Dalton, Judy Wilder - "Goat Island Residents"

Dalton, Judy Wilder - "Ready to Launch"

Dalton, Judy Wilder - "Wood County Landscape"

Donaho, Darby - "Tucson and the Cowboy - The End of the Day" - Top 25

Duprie-Routh, Stephanie - "Comal Food Store" - Top 25

Duprie-Routh, Stephanie - "Dairy King"

Duprie-Routh, Stephanie - "No Name Church"

Fisher, Mike - "Anachronisms"

Fisher, Mike - "Big Front Yard"

Fisher, Mike - "Just Thought I'd Stop By For a Drink"

Fisher, Stephen - "The Barn" - Top 25, Grand Prize Award

Fisher, Stephen - "Ready for Work" - Top 25, Honorable Mention

Fisher, Stephen - "The Gate"

Harvey, Melinda - "Red Mud Cemetery" - Top 25

Harvey, Melinda - "Bull Dogs"

Harvey, Melinda - "The Last Rotary"

Heffron, Barbara - "Refuge"

Heffron, Barbara - "Summer Breeze"

Hellrung, Christi - "Office"

Hellrung, Christi - "TXTags"

Hoffman, Hanna - "Windmill at Sunset" - Top 25

Hoffman, Hanna - "New Tractor Old Museum"

Hoffman, Hanna - "Evening View from Country Road"

Hoffman, Hanna - "Small Town Street"

Hoffman, Hanna - "Hungry Bulls"

Hoffman, Hanna - "Sunday in Columbus"

Hyde, Yuvonna - "Untitled #1"

Hyde, Yuvonna - "Untitled #2"

Hyde, Yuvonna - "Untitled #3"

Jackson, Cole - "Vestige" - Top 25

Kelly, Brendan - "Landscape Decor, Memphis. TX - Top 25

Kelly, Brendan - "It's Just Us, Amarillo, TX

Kelly, Brendan - "The Darkside of Faith, Megargel, TX"

Lloyd, Michael - "Texas 4-Wheeler" - Top 25, Honorable Mention

Lloyd, Michael - "A Day''s Work" - Top 25

Lloyd, Michael - "Rural Texas 75"

Lloyd, Michael - "Country Road"

Lloyd, Michael - "Town Meeting"

Lloyd, Michael - "Water Gates"

Lowe, Robert - "Herd 2" - Top 25, Honorable Mention

Lowe, Robert - "Branding"

Lowe, Robert - "Calf Rope"

Marshall, PV - "PV"

McEnany, Sara - "Untitled #1"

McEnany, Sara - "Untitled #2"

McMullen, Shannon - "Small Town Pride"

McMullen, Shannon - "Summer Nights in Texas"

McMullen, Shannon - "Winter Frost"

Moon, Randy - "Farm Truck"

Moon, Randy - "Harrison County Courthouse"

Moon, Randy - "Jefferson Texaco"

Niell, Ricky - "Cindy" - Top 25, Second Place Award

Niell, Ricky - "Plow" - Top 25

Niell, Ricky - "After Storm"

Portis, Ed - "Bird Family of South Texas"

Portis, Ed - "Family Farm"

Portis, Ed - "Singing for Tips"

Sentenac, Dennis - "Cow Mom and Junior"

Sentenac, Dennis - "Ernie Shiner Wisdom"

Sentenac, Dennis - "Ram Dad"

Suler, Patti - "Gone Home"

Suler, Patti - "Homemade Cake"

Suler, Patti - "Ready for Company"

Szalay, Patsy - "Love in Bloom This"

Wegenhoft, Tracey - "Feed Barn, Flatonia - Step Right Up"

Wegenhoft, Tracey - "Red Shoes White Chemise on Brown Pier"

Whitfield, Susan - "Honey of a Day" - Top 25

Whitfield, Susan - "Redneck Still Life"

Whitfield, Susan - "Texas Snail Mail"

Zajicek, Beckey - "Storm's Comin" - Top 25, First Place Award

Zajicek, Beckey - "Ricefield Road" - Top 25, Honorable Mention

Zajicek, Beckey - "Recycled"

Juror:

Dion McInnis, president and founder of The Empowered Creativity Institute, states “I became a photographer at six, a writer at 12 and a poet since birth.”

After a career as writer-photographer, he entered the realm of higher education in 1987 where he served four universities over a 27-year period in development and fundraising, alumni/community relations, external relations and communications. McInnis is also the author of six books. A life of seeing led to his cornerstone message: SEE differently; CHANGE perspectives; GROW authentically.

He has written for two national photography magazines and has been exhibited in a variety of shows. He currently instructs with the Houston Center for Photography, the Jung Center-Houston and several photography clubs. His style of photo reviews has made him a favorite at several clubs in the Houston area. For three summers he taught one week each at the University of West Bohemia in Czech Republic, guiding students from Czech Republic, Russia and Ukraine. His presentations inspired by the trips emphasized “art removes borders.” He often blends words and images in his work.

He states that he lives in the city but has dirt in his blood, a connection to rural people, places and culture. He is currently working on a personal book about his visit to Mississippi to better understand his roots on his father’s side. His trips to his property in East Texas feed his rural eyes and Southern roots.

No Where But Texas Winter 2013

Our first annual show in 2009 featured only 23 artists. 17 members from across the state came for the opening at Dutch Art Gallery. Many of the artists were meeting for the first time. Hans and Pam Massar welcomed the artists and the new work to their traditional gallery opening a new relationship of celebrating the art of Texas by the Artists of Texas.

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Artists of Texas celebrate art daily on two blogs. Please visit their two blogs with new art each day.

Rites of Spring 2013

Our first annual show in 2013 featured the top fifty paintings in a gallery show at Dutch Art Gallery in Dallas, Texas. 50 paintings arrived at the gallery from across the United States as the Artists of Texas began their new spring show celebrating art in the United States. The celebration of art and stories from a top collection in the nation brought some top painters competing for prizes of $1000 for first place, $350 for second place and $150 for third place.

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Artists of Texas celebrate art daily on two blogs. Please visit their two blogs with new art each day.